NY protests move to Times Square

15 October 2011 Last updated at 21:46 ET

About 5,000 marched to Times Square, organisers said

Police in New York have arrested about 70 people, as Occupy Wall Street protesters moved to Times Square.

Forty-five were detained in the square, with another 24 held for alleged trespassing at a branch of Citibank in Washington Square Park.

The protests came on a day of worldwide protests against austerity and what protesters call corporate greed.

At least 70 people were injured after a peaceful rally in the Italian capital Rome descended into street battles.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called the violence a “worrying signal” and said the perpetrators “must be found and punished”.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno blamed the violence on “a few thousand thugs from all over Italy, and possibly from all over Europe, who infiltrated the demonstration”.

Series of rallies

Organisers of the New York march from Zannotti Park in Lower Manhattan to Times Square said about 5,000 people took part.

Polilce made 45 arrests in Times Square alone

Protesters chanted: “We got sold out, banks got bailed out” and “All day, all week, occupy Wall Street.”

There were also protests in a number of other US cities, including 5,000 people who rallied outside City Hall in Los Angeles and 2,000 who marched in Pittsburgh.

The New York protests began on 17 September with a small group of activists and have swelled to include several thousand people at times, from many walks of life.

Festive

The Rome protests began when tens of thousands of people gathered under anti-austerity banners, close to the ruins of the Colosseum.

However militants dressed in black, some of them wearing balaclavas and crash helmets, soon appeared in the crowd and began attacking property.

Cars were burnt, and cash dispensers, banks and shops were attacked, with windows smashed.

A huge rally in Madrid had a more festive atmosphere.

Tens of thousands of people filled the Puerta del Sol Square on Saturday evening, the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford reports from the Spanish capital.

Madrid was one of several European cities to see large-scale protests on Saturday

People of all ages, from pensioners to children, and many of the ng unemployed, filled the square, where the “Indignant” movement was launched in May.

In Portugal, 20,000 marched in Lisbon and a similar number in Oporto.

In Greece, about 2,000 people rallied outside parliament in Athens and a similar number reportedly turned out in the second city, Thessaloniki.

At least 1,000 people demonstrated in London’s financial district but were prevented by police from reaching the Stock Exchange, and five arrests were made.

About 500 protesters spent the night camped outside St Paul’s cathedral

Protests were also held in a number of cities across Asia.

— ’re ’s , . : A ‘Malign Intellectual Subculture’ – George Monbiot Smears Chomsky, Herman, Peterson, Pilger And Media Lens.